All quiet on the garden front

Black Redstart, Malling, Kent, 23/24 March (Mike P)

#BWKM0 ND&B garden challenge
DAY 26

It has been the quietest day since the start of this challenge, with fewer counts and sightings being submitted. Is that due to an Easter bank-holiday hangover? Or a birding burn-out? It had to happen, a point when what starts out as an exciting venture becomes to feel a touch jaded. But fear not! There are many surprises still to come - out-of-place migrants, nocturnal waders, wandering residents that haven't sorted themselves a partner - plus the joy of observing the activities of those birds that have chosen our neighbourhoods to nest in. And there is still the absolute privilege and delight of watching our Swifts return to rule supreme over the skies. My obsessive 'dawn-til-dusk' vigils (with the odd night-shift thrown in) have been cut back a bit. With the weather stuck in this dry anticyclonic rut it is not very conducive to arrivals and grounded migrants. Patience is called for. We are, after all, playing the long game.

OUR COMBINED TOTAL (BRITISH ISLES GARDENS) IS 157 SPECIES   Still to be recorded are: Pochard, Tufted Duck, Dunlin, Bar-tailed Godwit, Common Sandpiper, any skua, Common Tern, Arctic Tern, Razorbill, Swift, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Kingfisher, Common Redstart, Whinchat, Lesser Whitethroat, Garden Warbler.

Our oversea's gardens (New Zealand and Albania) add an additional 15 SPECIES

Today’s additions are: Cuckoo (Wes A) and Black Redstart (Mike P) - omitted by mistake, recorded on March 23rd and 24th, pictured above.

You can find the combined #BWKM0 list by clicking on the right-hand tab above.

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ENTRIES

Our 'garden collective' stands at 58.

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Garden firsts

Josephine S (Leatherhead, Surrey) - Mute Swan

There have been 134 garden firsts across the competition.

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Visual interlude - #5 Lyme Regis under cliff, Dorset

A bit cheeky of me posting this, as we have two gardens in our 'collective' just along the coast from here. A footpath runs through a vast wooded land-slump, situated along the coast between Lyme Regis and Seaton. It is eroding badly at its western end and suffers periodic closure. For most of its seven or so miles you will find yourself under a dense wooded canopy, but in places it opens up to give spectacular views out to sea and along the Jurrasic coast. It is an atmospheric walk in stygian gloom, choked with ferns and crossed by streams. Hobbitesque.

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How are we getting on?
Alphabetical order by first name. The first figure is the garden score as on March 20th. The second is since then (as up to date as I am aware).

Arjun D (Wallington, Surrey) - 74/60; Bene A (Tirana, Albania) xx/30;
Benno W (Goodnestone, Kent) xx/37; Bernard B (Ruckinge, Kent) 107/56; 
Bob S (Worcester Park, Surrey) 86/31; Callum M (Hemel Hempstead, Herts) 64/61;
Cheech A (Langley Vale, Surrey) xx/38; Chris P (Claygate, Surrey) - 43/39; 
Dave B (Chatham Islands, Pacific Ocean) 30/21; Dave P (Shoreham, West Sussex) - 55/41; 
David S (West Raynham, Norfolk) - 87/56; Debbie S (Portland, Dorset) 155/41; 
Dylan W (Thanet, Kent) 111/50; Ed S (Farncombe, Surrey) - 79/77;  
Gavin H (Bridport, Dorset) xx/43;  Geoff B (Chessington, Surrey) 69/28; 
Gill H (Tenterden, Kent) 60/30; Gordon H (Redhill, Surrey) 80/42; 
Ian K (Leigh, Surrey) 62/37; Ian S (Sidcup, Kent) - 113/48; 
Ian W (Merton Park, London) 86/43; Isaiah R (New Malden, London) 76/52; 
John P (Banstead, Surrey) xx/xx; Jono L (Wanstead, London) 83/64; 
Josephine S (Leatherhead, Surrey) 40/36; Justin T (Charmouth, Dorset) 59/32;
Mark D (Dorking, Surrey) 59/51; Mark H (Littlestone, Kent) 135/61:
Mark N (Stutton, Suffolk) - 77/60; Martin C (Lydd, Kent) 140/79;
Mathew B (Wrotham, Kent) - 33/44; Matt P (Pulborough, West Sussex) 126/94;   
Michael D (Craster, Northumberland) 106/57; Mike P (Malling, Kent) 70/58; 
Mike R (Battle, East Sussex) 97/50;  Oscar D (Chiswick, London) - 67/52;
Paul D (London) 84/35; Pete B (Shadoxhurst, Kent) 101/43;
Phil B (Ramsgate, Kent) 54/30; Rebecca G (Balham, London) xx/12;
Reuben B (Tufnell Park, London) - 45/43; Richard F (Pinner, London) 63/35;
Richard P (Charmouth, Dorset) - 101/65;  Robin S (Cranleigh, Surrey) - 101/51; 
Sam B (Enniskeane, Cork) - 67/58; Seamus E (Thornton Cleveleys, Lancs) - 67/35; 
Sean M (Pinner, London) - 50/37; Seth G (Uig, Skye) 64/50;  
Stephen R (Harrogate, Yorks) 66/40; Steve C (Guildford, Surrey) 66/36; 
Steve G (Banstead, Surrey) - 92/67; Steve T (Ewell, Surrey) 59/36;
Steve W (Hawes, N Yorks) - 91/49; Stewart S (Howick, Northumberland) 131/66;
Sye W (Aston Clinton, Bucks) - xx/31; Tony B (Woodford, London) 69/50;
Wes A (Capel, Surrey) - 96/79